Air Purification and Filtration System Using UV Light

ABSTRACT

A system for controlling air quality in a vehicle cabin includes at least one mechanical filtering device receiving unfiltered air and collecting particulate matter from the unfiltered air. Air flow downstream from the mechanical filtering device is a first filtered air flow. At least one ultraviolet (UV) light source is positioned within the vehicle between the at least one mechanical filtering device and the vehicle cabin, wherein the UV light source directs UV light into the first filtered air flow.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and incorporates by reference U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/085,757, filed on Sep. 30,2020, and entitled Air Purification and Filtration System Using UVLight.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to improving air quality within the cabin of avehicle with ultraviolet light.

BACKGROUND

Much like the engine filter, the air cabin filter keeps dust, dirt,pollen, bacteria, and exhaust from entering the HVAC system of thevehicle. On top of that it also keeps larger objects such as bugs,leaves, and other debris from entering the vehicle keeping the cabinclean. As illustrated in prior art FIG. 1, however, these cabin airfilters, over time, will degrade in performance. When these filterscollect moisture over time they will start to grow and house microbes,bacteria, and mold. UV light, used in traditional HVAC systems in homeshas been proven to reduce the risks of mold, bacteria, and microbes.They are also able to remove VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), such asacetone and formaldehyde.

SUMMARY

A system for controlling air quality in a vehicle cabin includes atleast one mechanical filtering device receiving unfiltered air andcollecting particulate matter from the unfiltered air. Air flowdownstream from the mechanical filtering device is a first filtered airflow. At least one ultraviolet (UV) light source is positioned withinthe vehicle between the at least one mechanical filtering device and thevehicle cabin, wherein the UV light source directs UV light into thefirst filtered air flow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a PRIOR ART illustration of a standard air filter subject toprior use in a vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a cabin air flow system having anultraviolet light source installed therein with air intake from outsidethe vehicle cabin.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a cabin air flow system having anultraviolet light source installed therein with air intake from insidethe vehicle cabin.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a cabin air flow system having aplurality of ultraviolet light sources installed therein with air intakefrom outside the vehicle cabin.

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of a cabin air flow system having aplurality of ultraviolet light sources installed therein with air intakefrom inside the vehicle cabin.

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of a cabin air flow system having aplurality of ultraviolet light sources installed therein with aplurality of flaps and doors in different positions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of this disclosure utilize ultraviolet (UV) light sourcesinstalled within, or at least proximately to, air conduits of vehiclecabin air systems to purify the air content within the vehicle cabin. Asused herein, the term vehicle has its broadest plain meaning, includingbut not limited to automobiles, trucks, airplanes, and any othermachinery in which an occupant is positioned and is subject to airquality therein. UV light sources may be positioned directly within airconduits or may be positioned on or sufficiently near an air source orair conduit to direct UV light toward at least a portion of air flowwithin a vehicle cabin air system. In some embodiments, a traditionalmechanical cabin air filter and a UV light source may be connected toeach other or be an integral single unit. The embodiments herein alsoencompass installations in which the UV light travels throughultraviolet light transmissive structures to have an effect on air flowwithin the vehicle.

As shown in the figures, a vehicle cabin air system 200, 300, 400 mayinclude numerous configurations. One example providing context to thisdisclosure is illustrated in FIG. 2 with a front of a vehicle (i.e.,areas proximate a front windshield 201) providing fresh outside air 210into the vehicle cabin via previously configured first, second, third,and fourth conduits 235, 240, 255, 266 for air control. The vehiclecabin air system includes typical air handling components including, butnot limited to, a mechanical cabin air filter 215 that physically trapscontaminants, a recirculation flap 220 (shown in FIG. 2 as including amovable section (i.e., the dotted line) controlling a recirculation modethat is optionally selectable by a vehicle occupant for disallowing (asshown) or allowing incoming cabin air 222 into the first conduit 235).FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment in which the recirculation flap 220 isclosed, allowing the incoming cabin air 222 into the air system 200. Insome embodiments, the air system 200, 300, 400 may include a heater andassociated blower 250, an evaporator core 252, an evaporator drain 257,a heater core 260, optional blend door 265 for heated air, floor ventconduits 270, variously selectable mode doors 275, main vent conduits280, and defrost vent conduits 290. Flaps and doors in the figuresinclude movable sections shown in the dotted lines to open and close theflaps and doors for different ways to configure the air systems.

As ride sharing becomes more prevalent and robo-taxis are beingdeveloped, these vehicles will have passengers cycling through at aconstant rate. Some of these passengers have the potential to becarrying mold, bacteria, viruses . . . etc. that will completely bypassthe air filter. Outside environmental factors can also contaminate airinside the vehicle and its air handling system as well.

This disclosure shows creating a UV light filter where cabin air iscontinuously being pulled through will help mitigate the passing ofthese contaminates from one passenger to the next creating a safe andhealthy vehicle experience. Outside air contaminated with pollen andmold may also be a concern for health and well-being inside the vehicle.This proposed system will help break down and eliminate thosecontaminates to create a better ride for the driver and passengers.

Along with the current filtration system including standard cabin airfilters 100 as illustrated in FIG. 1, this disclosure incorporates atleast one UV light source into the air conduits in a vehicle. The UVlight source may be a permanent fixture within the vehicle cabin airsystem or it may be a modular UV light assembly with replaceable filtersystem components that provide the UV light. As noted above, onenon-limiting embodiment of this disclosure is useful to decrease thenumber of microbes and bacteria transmitted from air sources (outsideair, fans, and the like) into the vehicle cabin and into the passenger'sbody.

Considering FIG. 2-3, embodiments of this disclosure include positioninga UV light source 230 within an air conduit. In one non limitingexample, the air conduit encompassing the UV light source is a heaterblower feed conduit 240, and the UV light source is oriented to directUV light into the air flow regardless of the position of therecirculation flap 220 (i.e. the air flow source is either the freshoutside air 210 (FIG. 2) or the cabin air 222 (FIG. 3)). As shown inFIGS. 2 and 3, other optional positions for a UV light source 230 may besections of the air handling system other than the heater blower feederconduit 240. Air flow traversing any of the first, second, third andfourth conduits 235, 240, 255, 266 may be subject to the purificationeffect of UV light directed therein prior to traversing the rest of thesystem. This is necessary given that the recirculation flap 220 may bein a recirculation position that blocks outside air 210 (FIG. 3)

In regard to FIG. 4, embodiments herein may include a plurality of UVlight sources 230A, 230B at respective locations in vehicle cabin airsystems. In one non-limiting embodiment, a respective UV light source230A may be paired with a mechanical cabin air filter 215 to purifyincoming air sources as disclosed herein. A separate UV light source230B may be positioned in a cabin air conduit 235, such as a sectionreceiving air flow during periods where the recirculation option is on,and incoming air is taken into the vehicle cabin air system entirelyfrom within the cabin, as shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 4 illustrates an exampleembodiment in which UV light sources 230A, 230B are positioned onopposite sides of the recirculation flap 220 which controls the optionalrecirculation mode in the vehicle. Numerous other positions are likewiseavailable within modern vehicle cabin air systems, such as opening andclosing a heating air flap 265 in FIG. 6.

Vehicle cabin air systems described herein may be controlled via acomputer having a processor and memory storing and implementingcomputerized algorithms that depend upon sensors in a vehicle cabin tomonitor air quality. The computerized algorithms may be implemented withcomputer processors and computerized memory for electronic air qualitycontrol.

Although the present disclosure has been described in detail withreference to particular arrangements and configurations, these exampleconfigurations and arrangements may be changed significantly withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure. Moreover, althoughnetwork devices are illustrated with reference to particular elementsand operations that facilitate the communication process, theseelements, and operations may be replaced by any suitable architecture orprocess that achieves the intended functionality of network device.

Numerous other changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, andmodifications may be ascertained to one skilled in the art and it isintended that the present disclosure encompass all such changes,substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications as fallingwithin the scope of the appended claims. The structures shown in theaccompanying figures are susceptible to 3-D modeling and can bedescribed relative to vertical, longitudinal, and lateral axesestablished with reference to neighboring components as necessary.

Note that in this Specification, references to various features (e.g.,elements, structures, modules, components, steps, operations,characteristics, etc.) included in “one embodiment”, “exampleembodiment”, “an embodiment”, “another embodiment”, “some embodiments”,“various embodiments”, “other embodiments”, “alternative embodiment”,and the like are intended to mean that any such features are included inone or more embodiments of the present disclosure, but may or may notnecessarily be combined in the same embodiments. Note also that an“application” as used herein this Specification, can be inclusive of anexecutable file comprising instructions that can be understood andprocessed on a computer, and may further include library modules loadedduring execution, object files, system files, hardware logic, softwarelogic, or any other executable modules.

In example implementations, at least some portions of the activities maybe implemented in software provisioned on a networking device. In someembodiments, one or more of these features may be implemented incomputer hardware, provided external to these elements, or consolidatedin any appropriate manner to achieve the intended functionality. Thevarious network elements may include software (or reciprocatingsoftware) that can coordinate in order to achieve the operations asoutlined herein. In still other embodiments, these elements may includeany suitable algorithms, hardware, software, components, modules,interfaces, or objects that facilitate the operations thereof.

Furthermore, computer systems described and shown herein (and/or theirassociated structures) may also include suitable interfaces forreceiving, transmitting, and/or otherwise communicating data orinformation in a network environment. Additionally, some of theprocessors and memory elements associated with the various nodes may beremoved, or otherwise consolidated such that single processor and asingle memory element are responsible for certain activities. In ageneral sense, the arrangements depicted in the Figures may be morelogical in their representations, whereas a physical architecture mayinclude various permutations, combinations, and/or hybrids of theseelements. It is imperative to note that countless possible designconfigurations can be used to achieve the operational objectivesoutlined here. Accordingly, the associated infrastructure has a myriadof substitute arrangements, design choices, device possibilities,hardware configurations, software implementations, equipment options,etc.

In some of example embodiments, one or more memory elements (e.g.,memory) can store data used for the operations described herein. Thisincludes the memory being able to store instructions (e.g., software,logic, code, etc.) in non-transitory media, such that the instructionsare executed to carry out the activities described in thisSpecification. A processor can execute any type of computer readableinstructions associated with the data to achieve the operations detailedherein in this Specification. In one example, processors (e.g.,processor) could transform an element or an article (e.g., data) fromone state or thing to another state or thing. In another example, theactivities outlined herein may be implemented with fixed logic orprogrammable logic (e.g., software/computer instructions executed by aprocessor) and the elements identified herein could be some type of aprogrammable processor, programmable digital logic (e.g., a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), an erasable programmable read onlymemory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read only memory(EEPROM)), an ASIC that includes digital logic, software, code,electronic instructions, flash memory, optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVD ROMs,magnetic or optical cards, other types of machine-readable mediumssuitable for storing electronic instructions, or any suitablecombination thereof.

These devices may further keep information in any suitable type ofnon-transitory storage medium (e.g., random access memory (RAM), readonly memory (ROM), field programmable gate array (FPGA), erasableprogrammable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable ROM (EEPROM), etc.), software, hardware, or in any othersuitable component, device, element, or object where appropriate andbased on particular needs. Any of the memory items discussed hereinshould be construed as being encompassed within the broad term ‘memoryelement.’ Similarly, any of the potential processing elements, modules,and machines described in this Specification should be construed asbeing encompassed within the broad term “processor.”

These and other aspects of this disclosure are set forth in the claimsbelow.

1. A system for controlling air quality in a vehicle cabin, the systemcomprising: at least one mechanical filtering device receivingunfiltered air and collecting particulate matter from the unfiltered airto create a first filtered air flow; an ultraviolet (UV) light sourcepositioned within the vehicle between the at least one mechanicalfiltering device and the vehicle cabin, wherein the UV light sourcedirects UV light into the first filtered air flow.
 2. A system accordingto claim 1, wherein the mechanical filtering device is positioned in anoutside air inlet conduit, and the UV light source is positioned in asecond air conduit receiving the first filtered air flow from theoutside air inlet conduit.
 3. A system according to claim 2, wherein thesecond air conduit is a heater blower feeder conduit, and the UV lightsource directs UV light into the first filtered air flow within theheater blower feeder conduit.
 4. A system according to claim 1, furthercomprising at least one additional UV light source positioned within thevehicle.
 5. A system according to claim 4, wherein the additional UVlight source receives the first filtered air flow during periods when arecirculation mode of air flow is off.